Eternal Star
by ToyHaunter
Summary: Konata suffers a horrific scene in which she has killed one of her friends and watches as another kills another before finishing herself off. Soon after, she discovers a strange manga and a new figure enters her life. All in a single day, her life will change, but what is real anymore? Violence.
1. Nightmare's Grip

No, no, she was trapped! She tried the door, but it was locked from the other side! Konata pumped another shell into her shotgun and let a zombie have it, blowing it's top off. But there were still others shambling towards her. She pumped another shell, slamming the butt of her gun against the head of one and setting it off on the one behind her. The extra force of the shot smashed the head of the one she struck, dropping it to the floor. She pumped another round and shook off a pair of hands that grabbed her from behind.

"Hey, hands off!" she turned and fired. It was only after the fact that she screamed in horror; she just shot Miyuki! "No, Miyuki! Miyuki, I'm sorry!" But it was too late, there was a gaping hole where her chest used to be. Konata dropped her shotgun and ran to the door. For whatever reason, there was an opening in which to look through.

"Help, someone, please help!"

"May the rats feast upon your eyes!" That voice, it sounded like Kagami!

"Kagami, you have to help me!"

There was a shot and blood splattered across the wall. Tsukasa fell into view, a hole in her forehead. She had a look of horror locked on her face as Kagami stepped forward, holding a smoking revolver. "The darkness comes!" She put the gun against her head and smiled.

"KAGAMI!" Konata screamed as the zombies grabbed her and dragged her away from the door. "NO, KAGAMI!" There was a gun flash and the sound of a body hitting the floor. "KAGAMI, NOOOO!"

x

"Kagami!" Konata cried as she suddenly rolled off her bed. She looked around, wondering just what happened. That dream, it felt so real. She could still remember how the shotgun felt as it bucked in her arms, the smell of the burning gunpowder and the rot of the zombie's flesh. It was all so vivid in her mind, especially the dead look in Miyuki's face as Konata blasted her open.

"Konata, is everything alright?" A blue-haired man came in to see his daughter crying. He went to her side and hugged her, trying to calm her down. "It's alright, it was just a bad dream. It was just a bad dream."

"But it was so real!" she cried. Her breathing was ragged and she was covered in a cold sweat.

"But it was just a bad dream. You can relax now." The man rocked his daughter, who was visibly shaken by her dream. "Hey, there isn't any school, why don't we watch something?"

"A-a-alright." Konata sniffed and went to her anime collection and picked something out. She put it in and cuddled up with her dad. She didn't want to be alone right now, for fear of the dream coming again. She would also have to call up her friends to make sure they were alright.

x

The next day, Konata was on the phone, hoping to get a hold of Kagami. But when the phone was picked up on the other end, it was Tsukasa who answered. But Konata breathed a sigh of relief.

"Konata, what's wrong? You don't sound very good."

"Sorry, it's just that I had a nightmare and needed to hear you guys were okay."

There was a bit of silence, but then Tsukasa said, "You had a bad dream too? I was actually talking to Miyuki before you called and she said that she had a bad nightmare as well. She said she could hear you screaming her name."

"Ok, now that's just strange, cause I was doing just that in mine."

"Why would you be screaming her name?"

"Uh, I think it would be a better idea if I explain it to Kagami first. I don't want to be giving you more nightmares." There was another moment of silence and Konata realized she wasn't sounding like her usual self. "Tsukasa, are you there?"

"Tell me," the tone in her voice caused Konata to freeze, "how did I die?"

Konata dropped the phone, her hand shaking out of control, "T-Tsukasa?" She could hear the girl laughing through the phone. She clutched her head and closed her eyes, her mind feeling like it was about to break. This...this...isn't...

x

"Konata, what's wrong? Are you still there?"

Konata opened her eyes to discover that the phone was still in her hand, "S-sorry, I-I don't know what came over me. Um...did you ask me a question just now?"

"Ya, actually, I asked if you wanted to talk to Kagami. I think she really wants to talk to you about something. She was a lot more shaken up by her dream than I was."

"Konata?" another voice asked.

"Kagami, you had a bad dream too?" Konata had to switch the phone to her other hand because the one she was using was starting to shake again. Or was this actually the first time? "Kagami, please tell me, what did you dream?"

"Konata, hold on a second. Tsukasa, can you give me a bit of privacy for a moment?"

"Ya, sure."

"Alright, Konata, I had a dream that I-I s-shot Tsukasa... I don't know why I would ever do such a thing, but I remember her attacking me, a crazed look in her eyes."

"I saw you through a small window in the door. I saw it happen...and then you..." she trailed off after that.

"I know..."

"I'm really freaked out right now. I just want to forget this whole thing. All of this is getting to be too much for me."

"Okay, this coming from the girl who played all three games of F.E.A.R? That is bad. Hey, here's something that will get you back to normal, there's an anime convention happening."

"I'm already gone!"

"Hey, where'd you go?"

"Oh, sorry, dropped the phone. So, call over Miyuki and bring Tsukasa, I'm sure this will help them too."

x

At the convention, the girls, even Konata, were slightly on edge. They had found themselves talking about their shared dreams along the way, which only served to scare them even more. Konata was the hardest hit because she wasn't able to find any manga she wanted to buy.

Kagami was so out of it that she didn't realize what she was looking through until Konata tapped her on the shoulder. The blue-haired girl pointed to Tsukasa, who was nearby. Kagami realized she was reading a boys love manga and immediately put it down. She was serious distracted, something Konata knew all too well. Miyuki seemed to have suffered the least of it, but that seemed to only because Konata shot her so early in the dream.

That little detail had disturbed her, but she was happy for Konata's concern. She was also happy to have been removed from the dream before she had seen what happened to her friends. It also helped Konata to know that Miyuki didn't feel anything, and that she didn't hold anything against her, since it was all just a really bad dream.

Konata was passing by another stand, the seventh one now, without buying anything. This really wasn't like her. She must be sick or something, because she should have a whole bag full of manga. But today she had nothing. And then she came across something. A strange manga she had never seen before.

It has a strange cover, showing a mysterious light bathing an area, with the words 'Eternal Darkness' displayed on the front. She found herself reaching out to touch it as voices filled her head. She didn't know what was going on, but her sight began to blur and everything suddenly went dark.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a dark store. There were empty pedestals all around and the shelves were the same. But as she approached the counter, she saw the same manga sitting on a pedestal. Below it, separated from her by a plane of glass, Konata saw a number of comics, their pictures of faces screaming at her. If it wasn't for her inner otaku, she would have ran for it by now. She picked up the manga, revealing the 'pedestal' it was sitting on to be a large, withered hand. With the manga gone, it closed into a fist.

"Okay, where do I get one of these? I wonder if the store clerk will-" everything suddenly went black again. When she opened her eyes, she realized that he was back at the convention. Strangely, the stall was completely empty now. Nobody was around and when she asked why, the answer was that the owner never showed up. That was strange, but now she was stuck with the manga. When she opened it to take a look, she was horrified at the sight of what was within.

Half of the pages were missing and many of the rest were blank!

There was barely anything in this one, not counting the one page showing three runes that seemed to glow. It was an interesting effect, one she never seen before. What was also strange was that she felt like the runes were drawing her in. But she was so drawn by all three that it was giving her a splitting headache. It got so bad that she could almost hear someone screaming inside her mind. She slapped the thing shut and her headache stopped almost instantly.

"Here, you look like you could use a drink." A drink container filled with chocolate milk was held out in front of her.

"Oh, uh, thanks." She took it and had a good look at the one who gave it to her.

He looked like a fellow student, but he seemed a bit older because he was easily a head taller than her friend Miyuki. Because of that, Konata only came up to his bottom ribs. His short brown hair was slightly messy and the sunglasses he wore hid his eyes, giving him a 'mysterious stranger' sort of look.

"Believe me, I've had days where I need a pick-me-up. You look like you're going to either snap and go crazy or sit down and cry."

"Now why would you say that?" Konata asked and he chuckled in return, confusing her.

"Because I was the same way when I was playing the first F.E.A.R game. The ladder scare really freaked me out."

"I know, right? When I saw the little girl standing there, I was about ready to break the trigger button trying to shoot her."

"And then there was the guy on the bottom, I fired my shotgun as soon as I saw him. A friend of mine never made it past that point, but I was able to get through. I was still pretty shaken after that." The young man shivered at the memory. Konata smiled, feeling somewhat relaxed with him already. She took a sip of the chocolate milk, against her better judgement, and it tasted amazing!

"Wow, what is this stuff?"

"It's something I made with some choco, mint chocolate, and milk."

"It's great! I feel so much better now!" It was true, because she felt like she could take on the world again. All the thoughts of that nightmare were clearing out of her head. It was as if the drink helped to cleanse her mind. "I have to give this to my friends!" She almost took off, only to remember that she didn't get his name. When she turned, he surprised her by putting a hand up, stopping her.

"My name's Grimma Verick."

"How'd you get a name as awesome as that?"

"Oh, it's actually a nickname I picked up because off the stuff I write. I'm actually not from around here." He took off his shades, revealing them to be clips for his glasses. Seeing Miyuki with a pair like that crossed Konata's mind for a moment.

"Surprised me, your language skills are pretty good."

"Thanks, it took me forever to learn it so I could watch my favorite anime. There's also some games I wanted to try out, but I couldn't find a translation." He pulled out a few game from the bag he was carrying. She took a peek into his bag, much to his surprise, and she pulled out a couple of dating games.

"Oh, my dad has these. And I've played this one plenty of times."

Grimma blushed, his secret out to a girl he had just met, "Uh, you've played these games before?"

"I get them off my dad all the time. He's the one who buys them." Konata was surprised when Grimma's jaw dropped. Then she thought, [I]I guess that was too much information, poor boy, I think I broke him.[/I]

"Um, weren't you going to see your friends? Mind if I come along?"

"Sure. I'll introduce you to everyone. And did you say that you write?"

Grimma nodded and soon discovered that she was having trouble keeping up with his long strides, "Ya, I write fan fictions. I've got a couple dark ones that people like."

"Cool. You have to tell me where to find them some time. Hey, Kagami, over here!" She waved to her friend, who was still wandering about in a bit of a daze. "Kagami, here, drink some of this."

"What? Oh, alright..." she tried the chocolate milk and her eyes went wide. "This is good, I feed so much better now!" She ran off to find her sister. When she came back, they also had Miyuki with them. The two girls looked a lot better now that they had a taste.

"Where did you get this?" Tsukasa asked.

"From this big guy right here." Konata patted Grimma on the back, or at least she tried too. He was taller than she thought and her arm was a little low. Nobody but she and Grimma realized that she had just patted his butt. He didn't say anything, instead reaching out to shake their hands.

"My friends here call me Grimma Veric."

Tsukasa tilted her head, "Now that's a name if haven't heard before."

"It's more of a nickname that sort of stuck. Anyways, did you girls like the chocolate milk I made?" Their eyes went wide when they heard that.

"You made this?" Tsukasa asked. "Could you show me how sometime?"

"Alright, it's actually pretty easy. And I've got plenty in my backpack. I try to keep myself prepared since I don't know this place very well just yet."

Kagami chuckled, "Believe me, Konata here is our resident otaku."

"Oh, really? Explains how she recognized my purchases so easily."

When Kagami looked over at Konata, she saw the look on her friend's face that told her not to ask. She knew her friend well enough, and it seemed that Grimma shared some of her interests. Whether this was going to be a good thing or another nightmare was still to be seen.

"Hey, I know where we can find some great manga. Want to come?" Konata didn't even wait for a response as she grabbed Grimma's arm and dragged him off. The others didn't mind because he had left each of them with a drink container filled with chocolate milk. It helped to brighten up the day, for each of them were needing it after their nightmares wracked their minds.

Konata and Grimma searched around for quite some time, checking out manga, video games, and figurines. It was an interesting experience for Konata that she practically forgot that she was still carrying the strange manga with her.

It was so easy for her to share her gaming experiences with Grimma, for he had quite a few of his own to share in return. Many of them were funny to hear, while some were enough to make her shiver thinking about them. He had quite the interest in psychological horror games, which explained some of the writing he spoke about.

As the two were leaving, they realized that they didn't have the other girls with them. Konata turned too quickly to remember that Grimma was close behind her, carrying the bags. She crashed into him and bounced off, losing her balance in the process and started to fall. Grimma dropped the bags and lunged for her. But when he started to fall too, he turned them around so she landed on top of him.

When she opened her eyes, she stared into his dark brown eyes, which almost matched his hair. He stared in return, into her green, almost emerald, eyes. He quickly turned red until she closed her eyes for a second before pulling away.

"Wow...I didn't know my first would be like that..."

"How do you think I feel?"

"Happy? Amazed? Completely blown away that you got your first kiss from such a gorgeous girl like myself?" Konata asked. She blushed because she was getting a little too far ahead of herself.

"Crushed... You're sitting on my stomach..."

She looked down and saw that she was. When she got off, he took in a deep breath and coughed. She helped him up and he looked at her while he stood on one knee. He picked up her manga and handed it to her.

"Thanks..." she watched him get up and stand over her. He was about average height, but to her, he was quite tall. She was starting to get a clue as to how her mom felt when she was with her dad.

"Hey, we finally found you two!" Kagami called as she ran with her sister. The two girls froze and the color drained from their faces, which helped to counter their blushing when they realized that Grimma was looking away. They had a feeling they knew what happened. "We thought you two had left without us."

"We almost did," Grimma replied, "but Konata remembered and we were going to back inside, but one of the bags slipped out of my hand and spilled." It was a nice save, because Konata, for once, was speechless. "Hey, I'm staying with a friend right now, but I don't have to be back until later. I can also leave a message saying where I will be."

"Alright, you can come with me." Konata smiled when Grimma blushed again. "I can show you my collection when we get there. And you'll like my dad."

As the group went their separate ways, none of them noticed how the shadows seemed to be stretching out, as if reaching for them. When a cloud passed over the sun, they vanished completely and were gone when the light returned.


	2. It Has Begun

When Konata and Grimma finally got back to her place, she let him inside and called for her dad. When he came out, he was surprised to find that she had brought a boy home. He had a similar reaction to Grimma's name that Konata had. But when he saw the collection of anime they were carrying, he accepted the boy right away.

"So, this is my room." Konata couldn't believe that she was letting a boy in her room for the first time. Her dad had come in here many times before, but he was family. Normally it was either him or one of Konata's friends who came here. She sat on the bed and he looked around at her collection.

"Wow, never seen this one before." He pulled out a dating game put in a beach setting. On it was a number of girls in bikinis playing volleyball. "Just how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen."

Grimma's eyebrow went up, "Oh, so that explains why you've got so many of these."

"Oh, that's nothing. My dad's borrowing a few." Konata chuckled when his other eyebrow went up to match the first. "Want to play one?"

"Maybe later. Right now I want to talk about what happened before your friends found us."

Konata blushed and looked away, "Hey, it's your own fault! If you had only let me fall, I would have landed on my butt."

"But you could have landed on your head in the process."

"I've got a hard head."

"I wasn't about to let you take that chance, which was why I caught you."

Konata chuckled, "Ya, but you fell over just like I did."

Grimma shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, you were a young woman in need. What sort of guy would I be if I didn't try and do something to help? And besides, what was that about your 'first'? I'm sure you've had other guys in your life." He backed up against the wall when she hopped up and approached him.

"Now why would you say that?" She looked deep into his eyes, making him nervous and his face started to get all flushed.

"Because..."

"Because? Is that all you've got?"

"Well, who wouldn't like a girl like you?" he blurted. She was short, but that didn't stop her from being intimidating. When she smiled he relaxed and came off the wall so he could look around her room again. She found herself looking him over, something she would usually do with her video game characters. If he was in one of her MMOs, he could be quite the hit. She could almost imagine how everyone else would think if she had such a character and giggled.

When he realized that she was looking at him, he said, "I mean, you know so much about anime and love manga. I mean, look at all the stuff you bought. You got double the amount of everything I've got at the moment. You were also kind enough to help me find some intresting games."

"Well, it's all I could do to repay you for that chocolate milk. Believe me, I was completely out of it before you came along." From the corner of her eye, she thought she noticed something outside her window. She froze for a second, wondering just what she had seen. It was like she saw eyes looking back at her. She tried to shae it off, but she felt cold inside for a moment.

She went to look, but nothing was there. She dismissed it as nothing and turned back to Grimma. "Seriously, I still can't believe just how effective it was." She tried to shake the feeling off, but it was a difficult battle.

"You looked like you really needed some help and it always helps me feel better. Especially with these strange dreams I've been having."

"Me and my friends were actually having a few nightmares of our own. We actually seemed to have shared it, right down to the last detail." Konata shivered and sat down on her bed while she rubbed her arms. It sort of help to ease things. "Believe me, I was the last one out, and it wasn't pretty. Just thinking about it is making me sick to my stomach."

"Looks like you could use another drink." With that, Grimma pulled a pair of drink containers out of his backpack and handed one over.

"Seriously, how many of those do you have?"

"About a dozen. It's stressful being here while I don't know anything about this place. Everything is so new to me that it's easy for me to get lost. That actually reminds me, I have to send a message to my care giver. She will want to know where I am."

"She?" Konata did her best to hide the concern in her voice. Did he already have a woman in his life? Was she intruding? Was she going to create some kind of love triangle? Then she realized she played way too many dating games.

"Oh, don't worry, she's older than both of us. Without her help, I wouldn't be here right now. Getting a hotel was just too expensive for me. Of course, I guess buying all this anime and manga doesn't help." Grimma took out his cellphone and sent the message. A minute later, he got a reply. "Hey, she says that she knows you."

"What's her name?"

"Oh, her name is Nanako Kuroi."

Konata nearly choked as she tried not to spew chocolate milk everywhere. Grimma had to pat her on the back until she could clear her throat. She looked at him with such shock and surprise that he didn't know what to do besides just sit on the bed beside her.

"You're staying with my teacher!?"

"She's your teacher? That will explain why she figured I was with you. I only mentioned that I met someone who likes anime and manga." He saw how she was staring at him.

She hooked him with her green eyes and he couldn't pull away. When he saw her stretching her neck, trying to get closer to him, he came down for her. Konata's heart was beating so hard at that moment, not sure if she really wanted to do this. But it was too late to think about it. She wanted this. She wanted it and she was going to get it. She closed her eyes and waited.

Then he licked her cheek.

"Mmm, can't waste good chocolate milk."

Konata's eyes went wide when she heard that. While he examining her room, she was frozen on the spot, speechless. She punched his arm and he fell off the bed while trying to get away. She gulped down the rest of the chocolate milk before jumping on top of him.

Even for one of her size, she could still beat the crud out of him. He grabbed her wrists as she was punching his stomach and the two rolled over. He suddenly froze when he realized the position they were in. Then it hit her before she went for a headbutt and she blushed.

"Hey, Konata, I'm just returning your game." Sojiro, Konata's father, came in and put a game on the shelf. When he saw the two in the comproming position, he casually mentioned, "If you two are going to fight, make sure you have pants on, okay, Konata? You've watched enough anime to know how bad skirts are for keeping you covored."

The two split up and she nodded her head. When Sojiro left, she punched Grimma in the side, knocking him to the floor. It was a good thing he was already kneeling or else the fall would have been worse. She then leaped on him, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

Konata was just about to hit him again when he grabbed her wrist and pulled. Her face came so close to his that she could smell his breath. The two looked at each other until she flicked his nose and he rolled away. She was still irritated from before. Why should she give him anything if he was going to mess around like that?

She got up and picked up her bag of manga, only to remember that she still had that one in particular. Because the stall owner never appeared, she wasn't sure what to do with it. As she was opening it up, a metal circle fell out.

"That wasn't there before." She picked it up and looked it over. It was made of gold or something similar, with three circles etched into the surface on each point of a triangle. As she was looking at it, she felt a strange force pulling at her mind. It was minor at first, but it slowly began to grow until it overwhelmed her mind.

A blue rune appeared on the back of her hand, sending waves of eldritch energy through her. She felt like she wanted to scream, but she was so overwhelmed that she blacked out.

x

_W-where was she? This wasn't her room? It was like she was floating out in space, yet it felt like there was substance here. It moved about her, like water. It shifted about and she could feel it, but she couldn't grasp it._

_No, she couldn't touch it with her hands. This was energy, it had substance and yet it didn't exist to be touched, so she had to feel it with her mind. It was to be her mind that would allow her to-_

_The darkness came again, pulling her into the depths of eternity._

x

When she opened her eyes, Konata found out that Grimma had been watching over her. He was laying against the wall with her head on his lap. He looked so innocent while he slept, but she was still irritated with him. She slowly raised her hand up to his face and flicked him across the nose.

"Hey, I'm not dead."

"I-I'm sorry, but you wouldn't wake up! It's been over an three hours and I was worried. I suddenly woke up and found you passed out. I must have fell asleep or something waiting for you." He looked exhausted, like he had been running. "I couldn't find anyone and I don't like how it looks outside."

He looked to the window and she followed to see that it was strangely dark out. But there was something wrong with the moon, it gave off a haunting glow that didn't give off light, but smothered it. This made shadows that seemed to come alive along the streets.

"Seriously, this would be the perfect environment for a new Silent Hill movie." She looked to see Grimma on his back.

"Now, I would have to agree with you, but is this really the right time for this?"

Konata was confused by his responce, "You sure? The moon is giving off such a creepy glow that just _screams _'do not go outside' and will make plenty of shadows for the monsters to hide in. Wait...if this is real, then there's just one thing we need to do." She left to go to her dad's room. "Hey, .22 or 9mm?" she called.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oops! Sorry, wrong reference!" She gave her dad's Vault Boy bobblehead a tap and giggled as it bounced. "Let's see, where did he put them? Ah, here we go." She pulled out a shoe box and took it back to her room.

"What's this, your dad's porn stash?"

"No, he keeps those under his bed and one behind the toilet for emergencies."

"Oh, that's explains it. But why does he like lolis so much?"

"Probably because I'm about an inch taller than my mom."

"Oh," his face went red, "so what's in the box?" He saw Konata's signature cat grin appeared on her face as she slowly opened it. "And if you do the Legend of Zelda treasure song I will have to hit you."

"Dang..." she opened the box to reveal a light revolver and a combat knife. "If you're wondering, me and my dad have played too many video games, especially horrors."

"Let me guess, you guys were playing F.E.A.R 3 late at night and the girl scared the crap out of you?"

"I wouldn't say 'crap', per say. Anyways, my dad taught me how to use a gun. I may be small, but the gun is too." She proved this by taking a hold of the weapon. True to her word, it was the perfect size for her hand. "How are you with knives?"

"I'm ok, but I'm not going to be throwing it any time soon. Seriously, why some people in anime throw perfectly good weapons is beyond me." He took the knife and took a few swings to get used to the feel of it.

"Hey, if this was a game, would it be a horror or a survival horror since we've already got a gun? Grimma...? Grimma!"

Grimma's face was turning red, as if all his blood was flowing into his face. He lifted the knife and lunged at her, intent on putting it in her eye.

"Grimma!" she screamed.

x

"This, isn't really...happening!" Konata cried as she opened her eyes to see Grimma laying againt the wall, asleep. Her head was on his lap and, somehow, she hadn't disturbed him. "Grimma! Grimma, are you alright?" She shook him and he stirred. She sighed a breath of relief as he woke.

"Konata, what's wrong?" he was out of it, but was quickly regaining his senses.

Konata had to take a minute to collect herself before she could explain what she had seen. Grimma's face went pale when he heard what he had done and shivered. She was able to relax now that it was over but there was still something bothering her. There was something on her mind, something about a...rune...

"Grimma!" she cried and he smacked his head on the wall as he fell back.

"Ow, Konata, what's wrong?"

"There's a rune on your hand!" She grabbed his hand and flipped it over to reveal a glowing red rune on the back. "Hold on!" she let go, not realizing he was pulling himself up and he hit his head again. "I knew it! I saw it right here!" she nearly punched him as she put the manga in his face. "See?"

"The Rune of Chattur'gha? What is that supposed to mean?" He took the manga and read through it. "Seriously, this stuff isn't making much sense, and just how many pages are missing? Here's something. Can you pass me that circle?"

"This thing? Why?" She was going to give it to him, only to knock her favorite Haruhi figurine from the shelf. In her attempt to grab it, she missed and the circle dropped from her hands. It fell on the figurine, breaking off the arm. She was so stiff in her horror that someone could have mistaken her for a statue.

Grimma had watched the whole thing happened and flinched when it happened. But it was the look on Konata's face that frightened him. She looked like she was about to kill someone and he was the only one around. She fell to her knees and yelped when she touched it, something sparking from her hand.

For a moment, she eyes went blank and she went into a trance, muttered three words, _"Ulyoath, Antorbok, Magormor!"_

There was a flash as a rune appeared on the circle's surface, one on each point the triangle. This was copied by runes appearing around her, bringing forth a blue energy that wrapped around the figurine and the arm piece. The two snapped together and became whole again, as if it had never been damaged in the first place. Then Konata snapped out of the trance and was astonished to see that it was alright.

"H-how did you do that? Hey, let me try!" Grimma tore up a piece of paper and concentrated on it. "Ulyoath, Atorbok, Magormor!" his hand suddenly sparked, causing him to drop the circle and dance about as his hand _really_ hurt.

"I think you did it wrong." Konata was doing her best not to laugh, which was hard because he looked so darn funny.

"No, I said the exact same things as you did. I was going to cast an enchantment spell, but for some reason, it hit me instead. Damn it! That hurts!" He checked the manga and pointed it out. "See, Antorbock and Magormor are used in enchantment. It looks to be the only spell in the manga. Ulyoath was the word you spoke to-" he grabbed her hand. "Hey, you've got one too!"

Konata raised an eyebrow when she saw a blue rune on the back of her hand. She looked at him, then to her hand, back to him, then to the manga, and the two jumped on it. They checked it thoroughly and discovered that the blue rune was that of Ulyoath, which was strong against Chattur'gha, Grimma's red rune. This explained why he was hit. The source of her power worked against his, not the other way around. By trying to tap into her rune, the spell backfired.

Then Konata had a thought and handed the circle back to Grimma, "Hey, why don't you try it with your rune?"

"Alright." He focused on the paper and this time he went into a trance like she did. _"Chattur'gha, Atorbok, Magormor!"_

Red runes appeared around him, two of them the same as the ones that appeared around Konata. But the third was different and the color of all three were red as blood, not a haunting blue like hers. The energy wrapped around the bits of the paper and it pulled itself back together. But he wasn't finished yet as he cast it again, but this time the energy stayed within the paper, infusing it with its power and making it give off a red glow.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Konata picked it up and felt a strange warmth. She flicked it and it gave off red sparks that harmlessly dissapeared. "Hey, what did you do to it?"

"I just cast the enchantment spell again. I guess what happens is that if it's broken, it's repaired, but if it's whole, it becomes stronger. At least, I think so. I can't read the writing very well, but I just get the feeling of it. Why don't you try and tear it."

Konata tried, but the thing was stubborn and wouldn't rip. Then she got an idea and cast her own enchantment on it, turning it blue. It still wouldn't tear for her, showing that even an enchantment of her own wouldn't give for her. When she handed it over, Grimma touched the edge and there was a strong spark and he pulled back. His finger was bleeding from a nasty cut.

"Oh, crud!" Konata ran to the bathroom to grab a medikit with some bandages in it. "I'm so sorry! I had no idea that was going to happen!"

"Well, I guess now we know that we should be a little more careful with your enchantment spells. If you were to throw that at me, you might take off my head. I think this happened this way because your rune is good against mine. Hey, wasn't there a third? What was it...Xel'lotath? How the heck did I remember that? And why does it make me...hungry..."

"I think that's what it's called. Though, it just creeps me out for some reason. And that was pretty good, remembering how to pronounce it like that. I'm guessing its the green one, right?" Konata grabbed the manga and opened it up. "Yep, you're right. And it's a creepy-looking one, too." As she was looking at the rune, she felt something about it was off. She didn't know why, but it felt like it was doing something. Then it blinked...

She dropped the manga and crashed into Grimma, holding him in fear. She was shaking uncontrolably, something about it put the fear in her and she couldn't do anything to pull herself together. Her mind wanted to make sense of it, but the memory of the eye was doing things to her. She could feel it like hands pulling her head open.

"Konata, what's wrong?" Grimma asked, but there was a horrible look in his eyes. Then she realized it was his hands pulling her skull apart. She was paralyzed as his fingers scraped across her brain, sending strange signals across her body. She was going to die, wasn't she? He was going to kill her...

No, this couldnt be real! This couldn't be real!

_x_

This isn't happening!

It wasn't, it truly wasn't. Grimma was still holding her and that was all he was doing. He looked just as scared as she was. She hid her face in his shirt as she tried to catch her breath.

"The rune...I saw an eye...and it was looking at me!" She was visibly shaken, and for good reason too. The manga was giving off a strange glow. But the light faded and nothing happened, but Konata was still shivering.

"Here," he got her some chocolate milk and she soon calmed down. The world around her looked to right itself and her mind stopped racing.

"What the heck happened to me? One minute I'm alright, next thing I know, it felt like my mind was coming apart."

"Maybe we should put that thing away for now. It's wearing us both down."

Konata didn't want to see him go, but she reluctantly watched as he got into Ms. Kuroi's car. She ran back inside and hid the manga away, hoping she could at least get some sleep. But when the memories of the nightmares kept her up, she snuck into her dad's room. It was difficult, but she managed to fall asleep.


End file.
